Wisdom of Desperate Housewives

I watched a surprisingly profound Desperate Housewives today on my laptop- it originally aired last week.

One of the main plots running through it was that of Lynette, a woman who had never gone to church before, making an attempt to go to the church of one of her friends, Bree, a staunch Presbyterian.

During her visit, Lynette raised her hand to ask the preacher a question after his sermon. I could see the cringes throughout the congregation- Bree felt utterly humiliated. Everyone squirmed as Lynette asked the preacher questions about God's love and why bad things in the world happen.

I smiled a bit at the scene- I can imagine it happening at my own church at home. It would be so awkward for everyone. Bree summed up the view of what everyone thinks but doesn't really say when she talked to Lynette about the incident later.

"Well, last Sunday when you kept raising your hand- we don’t really do that. The church isn’t a place for questions, it’s a place for answers," Bree said.

“Yeah, but how do you get the answers if you don’t ask the questions," Lynette innocently asked.
"Well, typically we just sit there and let the preacher preach and eventually our questions are answered and no one is humiliated," Bree answered.

It's funny- hearing the words coming out of her mouth- I knew instantly that they were wrong. Yet at the same time- I understood where she was coming from. People in most churches today aren't active participants in the service. You listen to what you're told- and if you have a problem with it, you maybe grumble about it later with a friend or argue with your family about it over supper (my family's done this before), but you certainly don't stand up and ask the pastor. It's just not the way it's done.

But it made me think. What has happened to the curiosity of religion? What has happened to its openness and acceptance? Everyone is so caught up in propriety and rightness and tradition that they lose sight of what the real picture is. I've sat in church services without knowing what's going on before- the ones where all the attendees have the prayers and hymns memorized and there's no guidance for an outsider. It's a very isolating experience- very embarrassing. How refreshing it would be for someone to take me through and let me know what's going on at different points of the service, or for me to be able to simply raise my hand and ask for help.

Eventually, of course, Bree realized the error of her ways, and ended up saying something fairly insightful for a show known for its tawdry behavior and sexual scandals.

"Faith shouldn’t be blind- you don’t threaten it by asking questions- you make it stronger. I lost sight of that."

This is exactly what I think about religion- I believe if you go your entire life believing everything you hear without asking about it, there's an entire part missing. Of course you have to make a leap of faith at times, but it shouldn't all be like that. A little curiosity and intellectualism can pay off big and help you grow both religiously and as a person- in every part of your life.

Another profound moment in the show consisted of Gabriella's discovery that her husband Carlos hid the real extent of his injuries to her until after they were married, for fear that she would leave him once discovering he was permanently blind. She was initially very petty towards him- pushing chairs in front of him and leaving oven doors open in his way, but calmed down once she heard of his reason for not telling her initially.

I love the way she responds to him- it's so very Gabby. He's standing there scared to death, telling her that as a poor, blind man, he has nothing to offer her, and she responds brilliantly.

"To avoid future confusion, I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you." She later added, "Like I said, for better or for worse."

It was such a step for her normally selfish, petty character- the one obsessed with looks, riches, and fashion. She finally realized that there was something that mattered more.

Really, it was such a sweet moment. Makes me realize there is love like that out there- love that sees beyond all flaws and problems and obstacles to the person that you adore and would do anything to stay with.

It's a good thought. : )

So I know, it's kinda a random post- I'm not talking about news events (I've been following the FLDS story like crazy), or happenings in my own life (I got an internship at wpni this summer!) or my feelings (god I can't wait for school to end, I'm going utterly crazy right now)- just a silly little TV show that I'm somehow obsessed with.

But then, it's nice having a blog I can talk about uhm, anything and everything, on. No restrictions means I write in it at least on a semi-regular basis. Lol.

Anyways, I should probably go sleep now.

Over and out.

-Rach

Freedom from Criticism doesn't (and shouldn't) Exist

A recent story out in the news today details the case of Fitna, a controversial movie made by Geert Wilders that hasn't even been released yet, and American company Network Solutions' decision to suspend his website. Network Solutions is also known for its hosting of terrorist group Hizbollah's website.

I have a great many problems with this decision.

For starters, I think any "preemptive strike" of a website hosting company against a site it host is pretty ridiculous, especially based off of the complaints of another group. If the company honestly has a big problem with what's being hosted, that material should be reviewed extensively before it is banned.

Even as an advocate of free speech, I understand why a company would not want to have certain sites associated with its name. However, that same standard should be applied evenly across the board. And you really really can't say you're against all words that might be misconstrued as "hate speech" if you register freakin hizbollah.org, I mean, this group spreads anti-Semitic crap all the time, including the ridiculous rumor that Jews are deliberately spreading AIDS. They also spoke against the 90's movie "Independence Day," which showed a Jewish character joining with others to save the world from an alien invasion, calling it, "''propaganda for the so-called genius of the Jews and their alleged concern for humanity." I'm not even going to dignify that idiocy with a response.

Secondly, I'm not exactly certain why so many people have a problem with this film. Fitna, which means "discord" in Arabic, supposedly is about 15 minutes long. This is how it is described in another article.

"Geert Wilders' film, which supposedly will be shown on a split screen, with verses and suras from the Koran on one side and examples of Sharia law being carried out on the other, including a beheading and a stoning"

Look at that. It says straight out itself, examples of Sharia law being carried out.

In addition, Wikipedia (not reliable, I know, but sometimes an accurate gauge for what people are thinking) says, "Wilders has said the 15-minute film will show how verses from the Quran are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically based on those verses."

What is so offensive about this? If it's in the law you follow, what can you see wrong in watching it being carried out? It seems so hypocritical to me for a group following such laws to object to the filming of such laws being carried out.

Now of course, since the film still hasn't been released, it could feature something much, much more agregious and insulting. However, this leads me to my final and most important point.

Why the hell is it considered so wrong for anyone to criticize Islam? I'm Christian- people crap on my religion all day. There are Jesus action figures, naked chocolate Jesus statues, cartoons of the savior blowing a capitalist pig, and ridiculous representations on South Park, Family Guy, and everywhere else (those are not getting links because I personally don't wish to promote that type of imagery). Do these piss me off and offend me? Yes. Does it hurt me when people say that my religion promotes hate, injustice, inequality, and selfishness? Yes.

But because I live in a society where people are allowed to voice their opinions in both speech, print, and every other media, I have to understand that these things will be said. And I honestly believe that these criticisms of every religion helps it and its followers to grow. When people tell me Christianity is hateful and promotes inequality, it pushes me to really look at what I believe in and find out why people think such things.

You can't go around living in a free society claiming all its rights for yourself without realizing how other people's rights affect you as well. It's part of the deal. You have the right to criticize other people, ideas, films, religions, everything- so does everyone else. You deal with it. You don't demand special treatment for yourself.

And we need to stop pandering to people who demands rights that don't exist. Get over yourselves. Seriously.

This is probably going to get me in trouble, but oh well, it's what I really think.

Y'all have a good one,

HG